How do these filters look after 20,000 miles?

C

Chris B.

Joined
Mar 16, 2003
Messages
3,690
Location
Colorado
Hello guys!
The air filter in the first 2 pictures are of a NAPA Gold 2412 used in a Volvo XC70 for exactly 20,000 miles and the air box was sealed and never opened the entire time. How dirty does this look? To me it does not look bad and I wonder if I could clean it with compressed and and run it for another 20,000 miles or is that not reasonable? Don't want to cause any problems and just curious on everyone's thoughts on this?
oucOFv4.jpg

VsEBdEd.jpg


This air filter is a factory OEM oiled air filter for a Honda Accord with a V6. Also ran exactly 20,000 miles and the air box never opened. Looks much dirtier and probably because of the oil. I imagen this is due to be changed and tossed in the trash?
UHqcE6U.jpg

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Yeah, I've had some vehicle air filters(side-by-side) like yours that looked cleaner/dirtier with similar mileage with one another. The VOLVO filter looks cleaner than the ACCORD filter. I'd probably throw both away and get new ones but, you can probably get more out of each.
 
I have changed engine filters only 3X in my life so far. I also change every ~20K and mine have never been this dusty/oily. To my untrained eye, the Volvo filter looks dusty, but the Accord filter looks oily!

Do most people see the engine filters in this shape after 20K?
 
The engine air filter I would tap on the fender a few times and go another 10k. The cabin filter I would pitch.
 
Wow, honestly they both look bad to me. It really depends on where you live and what your commute is like. But I’ve seen filters with 50,000 miles on them that look brand new compared to yours. And I’m replacing them thinking...why am I even replacing this?
 
I don't change air filters anymore unless somehow they became too restrictive, both my cars have factory air filters installed, I live in a non rural area so I'm pretty sure I'm good to go, no issues ever, I have never experienced an engine air filter be the cause of any type of failure or issue in my 1 mil + miles of driving, but only after BITOG did I stop changing air filters, and in a vehicle of unknown maintenance history, I would just install an OEM air filter and call it a day.

in order for you to know if those air filters are any good, you need to install an air filter restriction gauge
 
AKhan87 said:
I don't change air filters anymore unless somehow they became too restrictive, both my cars have factory air filters installed, I live in a non rural area so I'm pretty sure I'm good to go, no issues ever, I have never experienced an engine air filter be the cause of any type of failure or issue in my 1 mil + miles of driving, but only after BITOG did I stop changing air filters, and in a vehicle of unknown maintenance history, I would just install an OEM air filter and call it a day.

in order for you to know if those air filters are any good, you need to install an air filter restriction gauge
Click to expand...
You’re also spoiled, BOTH the cars in your signature could probably run for a half million miles with a paper bag as your filter. The 2GRFE engine is about as bullet proof as you can get. I own a 2016 Avalon and it’s taken me a while to realize that I don’t even have to bother checking the oil between 5,000 mile intervals, it’s not going to use any. LOL.
 
Thanks gentlemen! Both filters back side were perfectly clean and my UOA's showed low silicon/dirt in the oil so filtration looks to be good. I'll stay with the 20,000 mile interval and then just pitch them for new ones. The Honda filter always looks black and nasty...probably because it is oiled but the back side is pure white.
 
They don't look too bad to me.
I use a restriction gauge and mine look a bit worse before they reach 11" restriction, which is pretty conservative.
Keep in mind they become more efficient as the larger pores load with dirt.
Chris B. said:
I wonder if I could clean it with compressed
Click to expand...
Good heavens don't do that!

Used Filters: Air

Filtros de aire usados
www.widman.biz www.widman.biz
 
circuitsmith said:
They don't look too bad to me.
I use a restriction gauge and mine look a bit worse before they reach 11" restriction, which is pretty conservative.
Keep in mind they become more efficient as the larger pores load with dirt.

Good heavens don't do that!

Used Filters: Air

Filtros de aire usados
www.widman.biz www.widman.biz
Click to expand...
Don't clean the non-oiled filters with compressed air? Because of damage it will cause?
 
Chris B. said:
After reading on here it seemed that most folks go longer then 20K. The other side of the filter were spotless.
Click to expand...
Most folks are also idiots when it comes to preventative and regular maintenance. One guy on one of the Silverado forums I go to has over 100k on his stock brakes and was talking about how he might just see how long he can go on them before replacing them.
 
tyman said:
Most folks are also idiots when it comes to preventative and regular maintenance. One guy on one of the Silverado forums I go to has over 100k on his stock brakes and was talking about how he might just see how long he can go on them before replacing them.
Click to expand...
Indeed! The Honda filter is made by Honda and is oiled so stuff sticks to it and it gets black quickly. I wish I had taken a picture but the other side was spotless. My UOA came out with very low silicon/dirt in the oil so I thought 20,000 miles on the filter was good/safe. Do you think I should still change it sooner?
 
Chris B. said:
Indeed! The Honda filter is made by Honda and is oiled so stuff sticks to it and it gets black quickly. I wish I had taken a picture but the other side was spotless. My UOA came out with very low silicon/dirt in the oil so I thought 20,000 miles on the filter was good/safe. Do you think I should still change it sooner?
Click to expand...
Well, yes, it should be spotless on the other side as the front side should be filtering the contaminants, lol. I generally go about 20-25k on an engine air filter, usually of the OE variety. I've found that's a good haul with the amount of dirt/dust we have here in the Midwest with farming/fires in the fields.
 
Those filters could have gone much longer. The longer air filters are run the more efficient they become at filtering smaller particles. It’s like saying, “that oil is dark maybe I should change it?”
 
Oliveoil2 said:
Those filters could have gone much longer. The longer air filters are run the more efficient they become at filtering smaller particles. It’s like saying, “that oil is dark maybe I should change it?”
Click to expand...
To a certain point. You can’t just say, “the longer you run the more efficient” as a blanket statement or we’d never change filters.
 
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